A New Dawn
by Archon of Darkness
Summary: War. Star Fox thought they knew what it was like. Brotherhood. This they also thought they knew. Soon, Lylat will become drowned in a war of all wars, with Star Fox in the thick of it...


A New Dawn

Intro

As the Moon Sets

"And he cried out in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'"

_Password accepted. Voice pattern recognized. Reactivating…_

The console activated, blood red sigils lighting all across its surface. The wires connected to it from the massive, cylindrical structure behind it began to pulse with energy as power flowed from the bunker-like monument. A soft, red light appeared on the console, glowing from within a small, glass hemisphere. It appeared suspiciously similar to an eye.

The being connected to the console looked over the room as its foggy vision cleared. Eventually its gaze settled on the man standing over it.

"_Kane."_

The Tiberium Messiah gave a light grin. "Good to see you among the living, my son."

The cyborg did not respond right away, though a part of it in the bunker gave an unseen smile.

"_I __live __to __serve __the __Brotherhood__…__and __I __always __have,__" _it said in a warped, alien voice. The console whirred for a moment as the cyborg processed the information fed into it from the many computers in the room.

"_Most __curious,__" _the voice intoned as it processed the new data. _"__I __was __not __aware that __so __much __could __change __in m__y __absence. __I __had __not __known __that __we __could __advance __to __the __point __of __extra-solar __starships __in __such __a __short __time__…__or __has __it __been __only __a __short __time? __How __long __have __I __slept?__"_

"Long enough," Kane answered. He stepped back from the cyborg's console, though his gaze remained upon its single glass eye. "Much has changed, my son. Nod has advanced far, but so has GDI."

GDI…the enemy of the Brotherhood…they still lived?

"_The intelligence data I have just received details an armed conflict with GDI occurring at this very moment. Has another war erupted?"_

"No. For now, they believe it is a mere rebellion. It will provide them with a distraction while we accomplish our mission."

The cyborg's vision swam as a map overlay appeared at the corner of its vision, detailing a solar system.

"_Am I correct in assuming that our mission involves the strange group of planets nearby?"_

Kane gave a nod as the being continued to turn and scrutinize the map, simultaneously reading page after page of information. The system was most interesting. It possessed multiple habitable planets, all within the star's habitable zone, with orbits that would normally cause them to crash into one another. Intel showed, however, that the planets all rotated at virtually the same speed, and would not intercept one another. Even more curious was the nearby nebula. At the current angle, the cloud of solar gasses roughly formed a letter: a 'z'. Interesting…very interesting…

Then the cyborg stopped reading. It paused, looking over the page once again to ensure it hadn't misread the highly top secret report, designated as readable only for those directly authorized by Kane himself.

The being had not misread it. Immediately, it understood Kane's plan as the pieces came together, the puzzle slices of reports and data fitting together. The cyborg said nothing, because it knew that Kane was well aware of what it was thinking.

"_I __understand,__" _it said. Now that its briefing was done, the being could get to the questions answerable only by Kane. Though the cyborg knew that the man was aware of what it was about to ask, he did not show it.

"_What __happened __to __me, __Kane?__" _the cyborg asked, its tone sounding surprisingly confused as it, tried and failed to access parts of its own memory, only to find portions of it irreparably corrupted. _"__I __do __not __remember__…__the __Tacitus__…__yes__…__I __remember __the __Tacitus, __and__…__pain. __That __is __all __I __remember__…"_

At this, Kane frowned. It was not a normal frown – the cyborg saw that right away. The mustachioed man was not being merely pensive, nor was he angry. It was a memory that flashed in his eyes…and an apparently unpleasant one at that.

"There were…miscalculations. I knew that you would be sensitive to the signals sent by the Tacitus, it was the way you were designed. But…I had not anticipated that it would have such a strong affect."

Had the cyborg possessed a face, it would have given a light grimace. _"__And __the __so-called__ '__Firestorm __Crisis__'__?__"_

Kane gave another unpleasant frown. "That was the result of the Tacitus, though GDI's tampering with your core did not help. Once you were in direct contact with the Tacitus, the strength of the signal became too great, and it damaged much of your core programming."

"_I __see,__" _the being known as the CABAL commented. _"__That __would __explain __the __corrupted __memories.__"_

The Nod leader nodded. "Indeed. It was fortunate that you possess what you have now. Many of your bodies were damaged beyond repair, while much of your core required at least partial cleansing. The process took time, and I could not merely engineer you back from the grave."

Cabal recalled an old archive file recently stored in his memory. _"__So __you __constructed __the __LEGION.__"_

"Indeed. Legion served his purpose. By interfacing directly with the Tacitus, Legion accomplished two tasks at once. With his analysis of the Tacitus, you could be rebuilt and connect to it safely."

That sounded convenient…for Cabal, but not for Kane. The cyborg narrowed its eyes, an unseen gesture. It knew Kane. The man cared little for another's convenience, so it was unlikely that he reactivated the CABAL for that reason alone.

Kane smiled, yet again showing his understanding of the way the cyborg's mind ticked.

"Legion surpassed you in many ways, but there is no replacement for the CABAL. I foresaw today's events long ago, and I knew that you were needed…"

Again with the frown, and it seemed deeper this time, as though the event in question had been more than a simple inconvenience.

"There are a select few here that know of our mission, but I trust no one with the knowledge of your existence…not anymore…"

For a moment, the cyborg was intrigued with Kane's expression, though any man that saw it would have been frightened. His face had darkened, and his features were colored with anger…

…But only for a moment. The Messiah's face cleared, replaced by an expectant, fierce smile.

"Nevertheless, my son, there is a mission to accomplish. I have uploaded all relevant data to your central core. Review it until you are needed. I have already given necessary commands to our personnel on the ground…"

* * *

><p>"…and we do not at this time have an exact number of the casualties, military or civilian. Nor will we know until we find either bodies or survivors."<p>

"That sounds terrible, Colonel. Has anyone taken credit for this action? Do we have any confirmation of the rumors that this was an act of terrorism by the Remnant?"

"I find myself wishing they did take credit, Donny. But at the moment, no one has stepped forward to take credit. I'm not at liberty to state specifics of the situation, but evidence seems to be pointing towards an accident, likely a malfunction in one of the Tower's fusion reactors. In addition to that, I fail to see what would be gained by attacking the AirStat control center. It is well-known that the system was not built for military use, and is quite useless in any offensive or defensive applications. While I do not deny that this is indeed a tragedy, it does not stand to re-"

The television switched off. For a moment, there was no sound except the soft _click_ of a remote being set down on the table.

"Think you have a grasp on the situation, Fox?"

The orange vulpine looked up at the source of the voice. A white-feathered avian, his vest covered in medals, looked back at him. McCloud looked from him to the other members of his team: the lazy blue falcon who's normally bored eyes glinted, sensing action. The excitable green toad, his normally twitchy demeanor somewhat subdued as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his bulging eyes still looking at the screen, but seeing right through it. The old bucktooth hare, sitting with his arms folded, his expression unreadable but set in stone. Last but not least, the blue-furred vixen, who sat with her eyes closed, visibly suppressing a shudder as her tail waved nervously.

He looked back to the eagle.

"Frankly, General Hale," he said back to the bird, scratching the back of his head. "I don't think I do. No one in their right mind would attack an installation like the AirStat. What's the use? It seems to me like it's just an accident…a tragic one, but an accident all the same."

Hale shook his head, his beak closing together in a tight expression as he picked up the remote again.

"It was no accident. Be aware that what I'm about to tell you is need-to-know only. We have a situation, and a serious one at that…"

* * *

><p><em>AN: I made some major plot changes. Sorry, but I just didn't like how clique it was to have a character from the past frozen in stasis like that...so I chose a character that didn't need to be frozen. ;)_


End file.
